Alain Delamuraz, CEO of Jaquet Droz explains why disruption has always been part of its DNA

Is the rich heritage of Jaquet Droz appealing to modern collectors?

The heritage is not only the product we do; the heritage is the way to do it, the spirit. It was the case of Pierre Jaquet-Droz from 1738, nearly 300 years ago; he was always finding a new approach.He was a disruptive person at that period of time, so we must continue in that vein. Respecting him is to continue to be disruptive.

I strongly believe that to respect the professor or the father, or the mentor, does not mean doing all what he told you.We have to inspire, we have to manage how to do it, to respect, but to push, to disrupt. To bring new ideas into the watch business it means new materials, new colours, and a new approach.

We have always been innovative. The tradition is the innovation.

In what ways have you refocused on the disruptive character of the brand?

We ask our artiststo take the time to lose their time by trying to find a new approach, to make it in another way, or to choose another subject.

So, for the new generation, it means that you can respect the art and the knowhow, but without buying the same watch as your father.

How do you personalise the buying experience for your collectors – do they receive unique watches?

We wanted to fully respect the past and the legacy. It is worth remembering  that Pierre Jaquet-Droz was traveling to the courts of Europe, to the King of Spain, the King of Great Britain, the King of France, even to the Emperor in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

We decided, if we want to respect that, we should make a piece of art; it’s not watches anymore, they are pieces of art. And we should make a piece of art for the kings. But who are the kings today?

The ‘King’ today is the customer who can afford to buy a real piece of art with all the materials and know-how.  We do then only pieces for kings, which means only, I must say, very expensive pieces.

Furthermore, as long as we make everything in-house, engraving, painting, why should we try to do the samepiece twice? I prefer the engraver, the painters, to do every time another painting, another engraving.

So, we concluded, we will only do unique pieces.

The half million customer, or even more, we must go to him and have a personal contact, as we only do unique watches. That’s why we put on the phygital concept, whereby the customers are in direct contact with the artist.

I can talk with a lot of passion and I love what we do and it’s fantastic, but it’s nothing compared to the emotion you will feel when you meet the artist.

Customersfirst have to come to see the artist to know what they want to do. And then we have facilities inside a studio, like a TV professional studio with six 4K cameras.The customer does not have to come back to the manufacture every three weeks to see the evolution of the creation of his piece of art. He can talkand he can influence the artist –  to engrave like this or do it like that.

This is a phygital approach we construct at the manufacture to increase personal contact as well as use modern technology to be able to follow the process.

Why are you convinced luxury and sustainable development are not incompatible?

They are not at all. I come from the hotel business and from the beginning I was convinced that it is a mission for the people who have a lot of money to show the right rules in the right ways. It is compatible with the sustainability approach.

Any other comments?

I believe that you cannot construct and clarify the future without knowing where you come from. We are a startup which is nearly 300 years old. It’s unusual.

I love this philosophy. And for me, the guy who said it best is Victor Hugo, who said ‘The future is the door. The past is the key. The past is the key to open the door to the future.’ And this is exactly what we try to do, respecting the past.

The key thing is the experience you have with the customer, who also has an experience with our artist.